


Growing Pains

by smilexdarling



Category: Glee
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 15:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4612350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilexdarling/pseuds/smilexdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Insecurities can spring up at any time, no matter how old you are, or how great your life is. Blaine is no exception to that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Growing Pains

Kurt leaned against their front door, took a long breath, and let it back out. He’d had a long week. Work was hectic and he’d worked overtime almost every day but today, seeing as he was the boss, he’d made the executive decision that everyone, himself included, deserved to leave early for the weekend. It had still taken him an obscene amount of time to get home, but Blaine would appreciate that he was home before ten and wouldn’t have to eat dinner alone.

He peeked into the kitchen, noted the pot of something that smelled strongly of herbs and garlic, Blaine loved his garlic, and meandered through the first floor looking for Blaine. He was nowhere to be found so Kurt made his way upstairs and planned his pitch for a couples’ bubble bath before dinner, but his plans were cut short when he stepped into their bedroom. 

Blaine was sitting on their bed, facing the full length mirror, and crying. He saw Kurt in the reflection and averted his eyes, hunching in on himself. 

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Kurt asked as he went to kneel in front of Blaine, taking his hands between his own.

“A new counselor at work today said that I looked good for a guy my age,” Blaine said. He didn’t continue until he caught Kurt’s look of concern mixed with confusion.

“I look old, Kurt. I came home and looked at myself, really looked, and realized that I look old. I don’t feel any different than I did in college, but there are lines and wrinkles on my face that I don’t recognize, that weren’t there before and it’s almost like I don’t recognize myself. I feel young. I feel like I pretty much always have, but I don’t look the same. My face doesn’t match how I feel and it scares me sometimes because I still feel like me, but I don’t look like me,” Blaine sighed, “I’m not making sense. I just—‘a guy my age’, that means I don’t look good, I just look good compared to other people my age that aren’t typically expected to look that great. All of a sudden it hit me, I’m not young and attractive anymore, I’m old and acceptable. How did that happen?” 

Blaine turned round, wet eyes on Kurt and he was at a loss for words. He floundered internally, not knowing what to do to make this right, to make it better. He hated that he didn’t have a perfect fix for this one. He hated seeing his beautiful, inside and out, husband sitting there looking so defeated with his lip trembling, trying to hold back tears. 

Kurt got up and sat next to Blaine on the bed and pulled him into a hug. Blaine collapsed against him and they spent a few minutes holding each other while Blaine cried. Once he was mostly just sniffling, Kurt leaned back to gently wipe his tears away. 

“First of all, you’re gorgeous. Let’s get that straight right off the bat. And second, getting older is scary. It always has been. From learning to ride a bike and having to just trust your dad when he says that you won’t fall to your death, to going to college and realizing you’re the only one responsible for yourself now, it’s always scary. Things don’t slow down, they just keep changing, but it’s okay to be scared. That’s a pretty normal reaction, but honey, you handle everything life throws at you with such grace and strength. With all of the adversity you’ve faced, bullies and depression, you’ve still made it out on top with a truly wonderful life. You’re successful and happy and you have an absolutely adoring husband. Even with all of that scary stuff that could’ve done you in, you still fought, you thrived, and you made it, and you’ll make it through this, too.”

Blaine sniffed again and wiped the last of his tears away, still looking forlorn, “It sounds so vain, I know it does, but it’s jarring to feel like you don’t recognize the person in the mirror. It’s like _13 Going on 30_ only the horror version. It makes me worry that I haven’t lived fully enough and I’m running out of time and I’m reminded of that anytime I catch my reflection.” 

“You’re the principal of an amazing school that makes sure its students feel safe and comfortable so that they can learn and be happy. You’ve been able to travel to different countries and see so much of the world and other cultures. You have the house you always wanted, friends that would drop anything to be there for you, and you have me. So, in summary, career? Check. Life experience? Check. Meaningful relationships and a stable, happy love life? Check. I’d say you’ve lived more than fully so far, and sweetie, we may be getting older, but we aren’t dead yet. We’ve got plenty of life ahead of us and I don’t plan to waste it. There are so many memories we’re still going to make and so many things we’ll still do, and we’re both going to keep looking older through it all. That’s not a bad thing, though. I don’t look like I feel sometimes, either, but it doesn’t mean we don’t look damn good, regardless of our ages,” Kurt said with a grin. 

Blaine grinned back, it was a bit wobbly, but the light in his eyes had been restored and he simply looked a little sleepy as opposed to downtrodden. However he looked, he was always handsome and Kurt wanted to make sure Blaine completely understood that.

He pecked Blaine lightly on the lips and deepened the kiss when he got a positive response. He took it slow, no reason to rush, and enjoyed a few moments of reveling in togetherness and the comfort kissing always brought to them. Loving each other was familiar and comfortable but they still had the passion they had as teenagers, it just didn’t consume their every thought like it did then. Kurt undressed them both and took his time loving every inch of Blaine. He left no perfect line or bump or blemish unappreciated and Blaine was putty in his hands. 

Once they had both finished, they laid in bed and cuddled.

Blaine traced random patterns on Kurt’s chest, noticing the dappling of grey chest hairs, and he smiled. “You were right.”

“Hm?” Kurt hummed without opening his eyes.

“Being older doesn’t go hand in hand with not being attractive anymore. It’s hard to look at yourself and not be critical, but looking at you, you somehow manage to get hotter every day. I don’t know how I’ve made it this far with you walking around, especially when you do it naked. I am partial to the being naked.” 

Kurt smirked, “I know you are. Why do you think I do it so often? You’re not exactly easy to resist either, my dear. You’ll always be beautiful and I’ll always remind you of that when you want me to, despite the fact that it is such a hardship. I should get some kind of compensation for all of my trouble, you know.”

Blaine surged up for a hard, messy kiss, “I love you.”

Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine’s back, “I love you, too.” 

They kissed lazily until Blaine shot up suddenly, remembering he had food on the stove and darted out of the room completely naked. Kurt laughed and enjoyed the view while it lasted before getting up to follow his goofball. 

He knew his reassurances to Blaine about his insecurities wouldn’t be enough on their own to assuage his worries, and this would hardly be the last time he would need to comfort him, but he was glad to know that he could at least still put a smile on Blaine’s face when he was sad. He also decided that later they’d need to have a serious discussion about Blaine’s definition of old because they were nowhere near old, thank you very much.


End file.
